Update to Boy's Book Club Listing

I ran into a little trouble this week with some of the planned reading for my Boy's Medieval Book Club.  We were planning on using _The Mabinogion_ by Sioned Davies for our next book.  I took this recommendation from my very favorite curriculum guide, Latin-Centered-Curriculumby Andrew Campbell.  I made a major mistake in not reading that particular version of the book prior to recommending it because it was specifically called out in the curriculum guide.

The Mabinogion is a group of Welsh/Celtic myths surrounding King Arthur, passed down orally and written at a later date.  Lady Charlotte Guest translated them in the 1800's.  I had read her translation and found the vocabulary too challenging for our 5th-9th grade boys.  So, I took the recommendation from the book because Campbell specifically called out the Davies translation because of the wonderful introduction and awesome vocabulary guide.  He also said any "in-print" version of the Mabinogion tales were acceptable.  To his credit, he recommended a children's version,  Tales from the Mabinogion by Gwyn Thomas and Kevin Crossley-Holland.  However, that version is out of print and sadly looked a little more juvenile than my group would like.  They resisted the first book, Favorite Medieval Tales by Mary Pope Osborne because some felt it was rather "baby-ish".   It really was well done, but these are boys who want some meat to their reading.  So, I mistakenly picked The Mabinogion (Oxford World's Classics) which is clearly written for adults based on the content (sexual in nature) in many of the stories.

To his credit, Andrew Campbell exchanged several emails with me.  He indirectly chastised me (rightfully so) for not reading it before recommending it.  He did offer me some good advice about proceeding, however.  Here it is:

• Unfortunately there really is no way to sanitize these stories to remove all references to pre-Christian morals. The Arthurian legends themselves center on adultery as the reason for the fall of Camelot. People have different levels of comfort with this aspect of older literature. Campbell said he once taught the Arthurian legends to a group of very devout Catholic children, grades 4-7. They simply noted how unfaithfulness led to tragedy for all of the characters.  They didn't dwell on the topic, but he said they didn't avoid it entirely either.
• Now obviously if there are boys in the group who don't yet know the facts of life or recognize euphemisms for sex, the passages in the Davies version would no doubt confuse them.  Check in with the other parents (and yourself!) and ask whether they would be comfortable with the story as it is. If not, it is certainly fine to skip it.
• When it comes to the Arthurian legends themselves, you can always focus on the better-known stories: the sword in the stone, the founding of the Round Table, Lancelot (as a knight, not in his relationship with the queen), Galahad and the Grail. 

 So, lesson learned.  We are skipping it for now.  I am quickly trying to decide how to proceed so we don't miss our next reading deadlines.  Stay tuned!

Preparing for the Spelling Bee

I just finished my FAQ for our homeschool co-op's spelling team, which I lead.

Part of what I do is prepare fun workshops to help improve spelling skills and build vocabulary.  One of the best places to start are with some great on-line resources.  Check them out for your aspiring Spelling Bee Champ.
First off, I love Free Rice.  We LOVE being able to practice vocabulary while helping to feed the poor.
Then check out Spelling City.  You can enter in your own spelling lists and learn, test and play games to reinforce spelling skills.
Now head over to Spelling Bee The Game for a real-life competition.  The words are incredibly challenging.
Then go to Big IQ Kids for some fun.  You need to click on Spelling Bee Free Game.  You can do all kinds of fun stuff there like US Geography, Math and Vocabulary games as well. Kids get rewarded with fun logic games for doing well.
Another site we like is Word Plays.   There are many options for word play there.

I'll post more ideas here after I present them to our team, but for now, here's the gist of how our Spelling Team works:

Who can participate?

SCRIPPS will allow any child that is in grade 4-8, up to the age of 15 (as long as their birthday was/will be AFTER 8/31).

 

What does it cost to participate?

I had originally projected a cost of $10 per child.  I’ve amended that to $10 per child with a cap at $15 per family.  

What does your $10 buy?

·         Access to the Spelling Team Yahoo!  Group

Participants will have access to all the group materials via a Yahoo! Group.  Invitations will be sent following payment for the family.

·         Access to the SCRIPP spelling lists and rules

All of the resources available from SCRIPPS will be available at the Spelling Team Yahoo! Group.  SCRIPPS provides lists for all the grades.  It also provides spelling guides for the difficult words we will move onto during the Spelling Bee when we exhaust the words on the grade lists.  It’s extremely helpful to use these spelling guides to prepare for our Bee and the SCRIPPS Regional Spelling Bee.   It is also imperative that the participants be aware of the rules so they are not disappointed when we move on to our practice Bees and the final Bee.

·         Participation in fun spelling workshops

Twice a month we will meet for OPTIONAL spelling workshops.  The workshops are a lot of fun, filled with games, group lessons (advanced phonograms and word etymology), practice Bees and supplemental homework.  All supplemental homework and activities will be available via the  Spelling Team Yahoo! Group.

·         Participation in Spelling Bee

We will hold a Spelling Bee at the end of January.  The judge and pronouncer’s schedule along with facility availability and speller availability will determine the date. 

Last year, the Spelling Bee took approximately 2 hours to complete.  I will allot three hours this year in case we have a great match!

We will have a small reception at the conclusion of the Spelling Bee to hand out awards and thank you’s.

·         The First Prize Winner will go on to participate in the SCRIPPS Regional Spelling Bee

The first prize winner of the Spelling Bee will receive a trophy, a free one year membership to Encyclopedia Britannica online and will go on to the SCRIPPS Regional Spelling Bee in the spring.

The second place winner will receive a trophy, a free one year membership to Encyclopedia Britannica online and will be a stand-in in the event the first place winner cannot participate.  

What the tests reveal...

We did standardized testing yesterday.  I am both excited and afraid of what will be revealed (although I usually already know).   It was MOSTLY a glorious report.  I know where we need work and am thankful for the hard work my children have put forth in their studies.  The "achiever" in me wants to only go after the lower scores and bring them up but my husband reminds me that where their high scores are we find their highest interests - those things that will lead them to learning more and more (a la TJEd).   I will stay on course and not do much different than work on bringing score up only if they were below grade level.

What always surprises me most (and after years of doing this it shouldn't), is how much my kids pick up from just reading.  During the general knowledge portion of the test I am amazed by what questions they know.  I think to myself, "I didn't teach them that!" When I ask them later, they can usually site the source of their data right off the top of their head.  I just love that.

I ran into a lovely lady who attended one of my seminars at 2010 MCHEC.  I wanted to post this link for the handout to my talk on Learning Modalities for her.  Melanie - it's here.  Please speak up in the com box if there are other handouts you would like and I'd be glad to share.

2010-2011 Book Club for 5th - 8th Grade Boys

Medieval Book Club

 UPDATE:  We replaced The Mabinogion with Men of Iron by Howard Pyle.  The version of The Mabinogion we were going to use was to advanced (in more than one way) for this age group.  Men of Iron is an excellent replacement, or you could use Tales of the Mabinogion instead.










Join us as we immerse ourselves in medieval European legend with the stories of King Arthur and Robin Hood.  We will meet once a month.  We will use the Socratic method of literary analysis to discuss each book.  We welcome young men in 5^th – 8^th grade. 

Here is our reading schedule.  Please have the reading done BEFORE the meeting date:

Oct. - Read Favorite Medieval Tales by Mary Pope Osborne

Nov. - Read the Introduction, Translators Note and Chapters 1-5 of The Mabinogion by  Sioned Davies Oxford University Press

Dec. – Read Chapters 6-11 of The Mabinogion by  Sioned Davies Oxford University Press (Click to see the link on Amazon.com)

Jan. - Read the author’s note, Book 1 and Book 2 of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green

Feb. - Read Book 3 and Book 4 and the epilogue of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green

Mar. - Read the prologue and Chapters 1-15 of The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green

April - Read Chapters 16-24, plus the epilogue of The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green

2010-2011 Book Club for 9-12 year old girls

Little Women Book Club

Join us in reading the Little Women Trilogy by Louisa May Alcott.  We will meet once a month to discuss approximately 200 pages worth of reading.  We’ve included the schedule below.  Each book discussion will include a Socratic style literary analysis along with some stitching and snacking. 

Here’s our schedule:

Oct.  Preface and Chapters 1-15 of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Nov. Chapters 16-32 of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Dec. Chapters 33-47 and the Afterword of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Jan. Read the beginning through the chapter called Naughty Nan of Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

Feb. Read from Pranks and Plays through the chapter called Goldilocks Nan of Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

March Read from Damon and Pythias to the end of the book of Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

April Read Chapters 1-10 of Jo’s Boys by Louisa May Alcott

May Read Chapters 11-22 of Jo’s Boys by Louisa May Alcott

2010-2011 Book Club for 6-8 year old girls

 Josefina - Catholic American Girl Book Club

Program Outline

October – Book:  Meet Josefina

• Program overview for the girls
• Narration sign up
• Historical introduction
• Craft – Memory Boxes for All Soul’s Day
• Snack – Tortilla chips and dip and a discussion about grinding corn with a stone
• Play DESIGNATIONS (Roles will be assigned by picking names out of a hat)

 November – Book:  Josefina Learns a Lesson

• 2-3 Narrations
• Historical discussion on clothing of the period and culture
• Craft – Knitting Looms.
• Snack – Bizcochitos
• Play practice

 December – Book:  Josefina’s Surprise

• 2-3 Narrations
• Historical and cultural celebration of Advent and Christmas (Los Posadas)
• Craft – Christmas gift for Mom
• Snack – Churros
• Play practice

 January – Book:  Happy Birthday, Josefina

• 2-3 Narrations
• Historical and cultural look at medicine
• Discuss Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego
• Craft – Make a fabric covered book
• Snack – Sun butter (made from sunflower seeds) dip with tortilla chips
• Play practice

 February – Book:  Josefina Saves the Day

• 2-3 Narrations
• Historical and cultural look at music
• Craft – Lace-up leather pouches
• Snack – Sopaipillas
• Play practice

 March – Book:  Changes for Josefina

• Historical and cultural look at dancing and art
• Craft – Pottery w/Mexican clay 
• Snack – Nut free Mexican Wedding Cakes
• Dress Rehearsal for play

 April – Play:  Josefina’s Gift

• We will have a final dress rehearsal
• Refreshments and entertainment for the whole family

The Liberty Girls will present  Josefina’s Gift (20 minute play based on the story Happy Birthday, Josephina) and talent show for family and friends.  We will display the things we have made in our club.  Refreshments will be served. 

All the rage this Summer...

I found out about this on a Yahoo! group about Latin Centered Curriciulum.  Minimus is a Latin program written by Barbara Bell from England.  My kids are absolutely loving it.  We have two student guides and one CD.  The girls pair up and the oldest boy sit and listen to the CD and read the book.  It's a bit of a graphical novel (read Comic Book) about a mouse that lives in Roman Briton with a Roman family.  The story is based on historical artifacts found at a settlement called Vindolanda.  So, it's not only Latin, but a small unit study on Roman History in Britain.

I haven't used it as a text book.  I simply put the books and CD out on our school table, which is in our family room, and the kids found it on their own.  They are noticing on their own the differences in pronunciation from Prima Latina and pointing them out to me.  We talked about Ecclesiastical and Classical pronunciation. 

My seven year old will be using Song School Latin next year and now I am struggling with which pronunciation to use.  Song School Latin has both on the CD.  For those of you who have taught Latin before, what have you used?  I could use some help here.

I will now, most definitely be getting Minimus Secondus, if not for a Latin text, then just to leave out again for the kids to find and enjoy on their own.